Daily Devotional

January 21

A First Book of Daily Readings

by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (selected by Frank Cumbers)

When I awake, I am still with Thee

We are always in the presence of God. We are always in His sight. He sees our every action, indeed our every thought.... He is everywhere.... He sees it all. He knows your heart; other people do not. You can deceive them, and you can persuade them that you are quite selfless; but God knows your heart....

When we wake up in the morning, we should immediately remind ourselves and recollect that we are in the presence of God. It is not a bad thing to say to ourselves before we go any further: "Throughout the whole of this day, everything I do, and say, and attempt, and think, and imagine is going to be done under the eye of God. He is going to be with me: He sees everything: He knows everything. There is nothing I can do or attempt but God is fully aware of it all. 'Thou God seest me.' "

It would revolutionize our lives if we always did that...; the many books which have been written on the devotional life all concentrate on this.... This is the fundamental thing, the most serious thing of all, that we are always in the presence of God. He sees everything and knows everything, and we can never escape from His sight [see Psalm 139].... If we only remembered that, hypocrisy would vanish; self-adulation and all we are guilty of by way of feeling ourselves above others would immediately disappear....

If we were all to practice this, it would be revolutionary. I am quite certain a revival would start at once. What a difference it would make to church life and the life of every individual. Think of all the pretence and sham and all that is unworthy in us all! If only we realized that God is looking at all, and is aware of it all, and is recording it all! ... The man who starts with a true realization of that is soon to be seen flying to Christ and His cross and pleading to be filled with the Holy Spirit.